


A Young Inventor's Day

by orphan_account



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Childhood Memories, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Pre-Fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-02 00:19:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15785091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A simple pre-fire fluff exploring the time when Violet received blueprints from a friend for her birthday.





	A Young Inventor's Day

Violet Baudelaire wandered through the lofty halls of her home on a Wednesday afternoon. While her journey was in and of itself not unusual, her reason for taking it was quite so. For nearly a week, the eldest Baudelaire child had been suffering from passivity and a lack of suitable invention ideas. Potential mechanisms and gearings would float to her in dreams, only to have been forgotten by the morning or proven impractical upon further inspection. Even Klaus, her younger brother, was starting to suspect that not all was well with his sister. Nevertheless, Violet persisted in her, from the piano room in the East Wing (where her father had once played a cringeworthy operetta for her mother) to the Grand Northern Atrium (which once hosted a reception party for Duchess R of Winnipeg), yearning for inspiration.

As she entered the main dining hall, she suspected that something was amiss. Despite being in the mid-afternoon, the curtains were all drawn and the electric candelabras had all been extinguished. Was there an enforced blackout for the City? Klaus had once told her about how such measures had been common during the Second World War to misdirect bombing raids. However, there had been no reports of another war and there was no indication that the Civil Defense had been reactivated. Cautiously, she stepped onto the marble tiles of the dining room. Without warning, several dozen voices cried out in unison and the lights flickered on.

“Happy birthday, Violet!” they said. Among the celebratory crowd were her brother, mother, father and several families of her friends.

“Oh!” Violet involuntarily exclaimed as Klaus offered her a birthday tiara. She had been so engrossed in her pursuit of inspiration that she had totally forgotten the date of her own birthday.

She was ushered to the long, oblong dining table where the majority of the guests were seated. Several children were seated at circular overflow tables in orbit around the central area. Once everyone had been seated, her father rose from her seat and tapped a fork on his crystal glass. 

“I have a toast to make, everyone,” he announced.

The room quieted to hushed whispers, then to silence.

“Today is a very special day, not only for our Violet, but for the community,” he continued. “Thanks to your loyal support and generous donations of various flameproof devices, we can celebrate as our young Violet turns ten years old today. You all truly embody the aphorism that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.”

The adults raised their crystal flutes of champagne, while Violet and the other children had glasses of mixed fruit juice. Personally, Violet never enjoyed the adult formalities of such social gatherings. As soon as the opportunity arose, she crept away with the other children as the adults mingled and danced. As they walked towards the adjoining parlor, her friend Ben approached her.

“Hi Violet,” he said sheepishly. “Happy birthday again. I got this for you.” He produced a small cardboard tube enclosed at both ends with airtight caps and a navy blue ribbon at one end.

“Thank you,” she said graciously. “Would you like me to open it now?”

“I don’t see why not,” Ben said. “After all, the adults are busy and it’ll be awhile until the official present opening.”

Violet nodded and proceeded to sit on a velvet reading chair. Out of curiosity, the other children paused and gathered around. She carefully undid the bow and uncapped the end it was on. She gasped upon realizing the tube’s contents.

“These are original blueprints from the Otis Elevator Company!” the inventor exclaimed. “I thought they were lost in the Crystal Palace Fire. How on earth did you acquire these?”

“Let’s just say I have a friend in who’s in the business that owes me a few favors,” he replied with a smirk.

Violet reached her arms around Ben and hugged him tightly. “You little devil, you always know how to impress me.”

“I guess it’s hugging time!” Klaus announced gleefully as he embraced them both. In moments, half a dozen other children had joined in a collective warm embrace. It seemed to last for an eternity until the Baudelaires’ mother called from the dining room.

“Violet! Klaus! Come over to the tables with your friends! You’re going to miss the cake cutting if you don’t hurry!”

With that announcement, the children streamed out of the parlor. However, Violet herself had never been partial to cake, as she found most to be overly sweet. She stayed for a few minutes as she recapped the tube and placed it securely on a shelf for her blueprints.

“Thank you,” she whispered again to the empty room. She tied up her hair in her trademark ribbon. The gears of her mind were turning at full speed, and she had just conceived of a new idea for an invention that would amaze her party guests.


End file.
